The present invention relates generally to electrical outlet strips and, more particularly, to an electrical outlet strip which can receive an oversized plug or adapter in one of its outlets without interfering with the use of the remaining outlets of the strip.
Electrical outlet strips provide a major convenience by increasing the number of outlets available in a minimum of space. However, when a pronged plug or adapter having a large body is received by one of the outlets of a conventional outlet strip, the oversized plug or adapter generally precludes the use of the adjacent outlet in the strip.
Most conventional electrical outlets strips include an independently housed circuit breaker unit which is placed and wired into the housing of the outlet strip during its assembly. The use of such circuit breaker units, however, is disadvantageous in that it first requires the assembly of the unit into its housing and then a second, additional assembly of the housing into the outlet strip at an increased cost.
The housings of some conventional outlet strips are also provided with keyhole apertures in the back of the housing to provide means for attaching the strip to a surface with screws or nails. However, this method of attachment makes it difficult to attach and remove the outlet strip and is disfiguring to the surface to which the strip is attached.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an electrical outlet strip which can receive an oversized pronged plug or adapter without sacrificing the use of any of the remaining outlets. It would also be desirable to provide an outlet strip with a built-in circuit breaker. It would further be desirable to provide an electrical outlet strip with improved means for removably mounting the strip to a surface.